Talking About Paint | Pale Oak

What color should I paint my room? That is an age-old question and I think we can all agree that choosing paint colors can be a royal pain in the booty. Truly. I just put 14 samples on my bedroom wall. I speak from experience. So I thought it would be fun to start a series called, “Talking About Paint,” in which I feature a certain color and how it might be able to work for you. I’m kicking off the series with one of my all time favorites, Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore.

When we moved into our home, the walls were much darker. You can see the before pictures here. Part of why we fell in love with this home is all of the natural light. It get’s flooded with it during most of the day and I’ve always dreamt of really light walls. Many of you have asked me how I chose Pale Oak so I thought I’d walk you through that.

I first used Pale Oak in our previous master bedroom and our children’s bathroom remodel.I had used it in three client’s homes prior to that and LOVED it. I knew when we moved into this house I wanted something neutral with no funky undertones. I also knew I didn’t want to go completely white. While I absolutely love white walls, we have high ceilings with a great deal of white cabinetry and woodwork. I wanted the walls to read a bit warmer with Pale Oak. I get asked all the time about the color. Is it gray? Is it beige? Is it white? Yes. It’s all of those. While it can appear beige in certain lights, I would call it a very warm pale gray.

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One of the main reasons I love a soft neutral color is because you can infuse any color you’re currently loving. Keeping the big pieces neutral allows you to swap out colors according to season or give the room a quick update.

I created this reference for you because these are all great paints to sample if you are looking to lighten things up. It’s important to note that colors can read differently in all homes and all rooms. Be sure to try out the paint on enough of your walls and watch how it changes throughout the day. You want to love your paint morning, noon and night. The Magnolia line is the latest from Chip and Joanna and available online.

Hope this helps as you navigate a new color. There is nothing better than a simple paint transformation.

We painted our guest room and entry way in Pale Oak in October and absolutely love it!! Our painters start in 2 weeks to do the rest of the house in Pale Oak. We owe you a huge thank you for introducing us to this color Courtney!

Paint is one of the areas I get stuck on. Why is it so hard?
A series on paint, it’s undertones and what color ist works best with, would help me immensely in moving forward and painting my home.
I’m going to BM today to get a Pale Oak chip to try against fabrics in the room.

I love this color. At the moment I have this sample color painted on our bathroom wall but next to Swiss coffee trim and door, it doesn’t appear to stand out as much. I wonder if I need to use a brighter white color for the trim. What color trim did you used?

Courtney,
I might attempt to paint our master bedroom furniture. I haven’t fully decided to take the plunge b/c I’ve never done a project that big before. It would be 3 pieces. I hope you continue to talk about paint and I will keep it at the front of my mind to see what I decide.
Jenn

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In addition to occasional sponsored posts, A Thoughtful Place uses clickable affiliate links. That means that ATP may receive a small commission from sales at no extra charge to the buyer. As always, my opinion is 100% my own and I only recommend things that I truly love or use myself. Thank you for your loyal support.